Friday, October 20, 2017

I saw a precious tutorial video online about how to make a Unicorn pumpkin and just knew I needed to replicate for Stella! I figured if she could make a unicorn, we could attempt to make an "Elsa" for Chloé. I couldn't find any tutorials online for Elsa, so we kind of made her up but I think she turned out cute!

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Go outside and spray your pumpkins whatever base color you have decided.
2. While they are drying, come inside and cut out eye lashes for your unicorn and Elsa with the black stock paper.
3. Use the glitter cardstock paper to cut out the unicorn horn, inside of unicorn ears, and lips for Elsa. (The horn is a triangle with a rounded base that you roll and then use the glue gun to secure)
4. Use the felt to create the outer part of the unicorn ears.

After the pumpkins dry...

FOR ELSA
1. Use the hot glue gun to secure the crown, eye lashes, and lips. Use jewels to "bedazzle" accordingly. We created a "hairline" and did a nose and cheeks.

FOR UNICORN
1. Use the hot glue gun to secure the horn first. Then wrap the "fur" around the stem and secure with a hot glue gun.
2. Glue the glitter cardstock ears to the bigger felt ears and then attach to the pumpkin/ fur. It may help to make a tiny 1/2 inch vertical cut at the base of the ears and bend them slightly forward to make them a bit rounded.
3. Glue the eyelashes on and use the jewels to create the nostrils and anything else you want to sparkle. My daughter added "earrings" a smile and bedazzled the horn.

This would be a GREAT Fall craft for a birthday or Halloween party or sleepover! I definitely think this will be an annual tradition of ours. I hope you enjoy making them as much as we did!

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

We ventured to the State Fair this year with a 4.5 year old, 2.5 year old and 4 WEEK OLD! Yes... you read that right! I was not willing to give up one of my favorite fall traditions so we strapped Andrew to my chest and went for it! I wanted to share a few things that made our time at the Fair enjoyable and FUN as a family!

#1 - Weekday. It is substantially more crowded at the fair on the weekends.

#2 - Plan 3 or 4 things that you want to accomplish. There is no way you are going to be able to SEE and DO it all. Our list included: 1) See Big Tex 2) Eat a Fletcher's Corn Dog & Cotton Candy 3) Ride a few rides // Although my hubby would have loved to walk through the Car Show and see more exhibits, we adjusted our expectations for this year so that no one left frustrated or in "meltdown mode."

#3 - If you have a wagon or double stroller, BRING IT! With 3 kiddos under the age of 5, we were able to easily keep track of everyone by having the girls in the wagon and wearing Andrew.

#4 - Pack water bottles!!! No need to pay for drinks at the fair. Pack your kids their favorite thermos and spend your tickets on the food and rides!

#5 - This changes every year, but we brought canned goods on Wednesday and each got in for $4! The State Fair can add up, so this was BIG Savings for our little clan!

We went at 4:30 and left by 7pm. It was genuinely an ENJOYABLE and beautiful night for our family and Gigi!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Cydnee Jex is the lovely woman who took both Chloé and Andrew's newborn pictures. I wanted to write a post and praise her work because she has given us pictures (now twice!) that we will treasure forever.

Pictures for me and really important so I was wanting to find someone that would fit our budget and also do beautiful work and Cydnee was that person for us.

Some things that I love about her new in-home studio:
+ She has a HUGE assortment of blankets, props, swaddles, and backgrounds to make your creative vision come to life. Also NO NEED to buy lots of hats and headbands... she has you covered. (See below!)
+ She has a connecting bathroom complete with a changing table, wipes, pads for Mom (since you are likely 7 to 10 days postpartum) and anything else you could ever need!
+ She keeps the room really warm and has a "Shhh!" machine to help keep the baby comfortable and asleep.

Some things I love about working with HER specifically:
+ She likes to meet with clients at least one time before the shoot to get to know you, the nursery theme and colors, and any Pinterest-inspiration you may have for her to tailor your shoot.
+ She is SO calm and LOVES babies. I was SO stressed that morning (especially when Andrew started crying) and she never got phased or made me feel rushed or upset. She let me nurse him for awhile until he was good and full and went back to making the magic happen. She literally spent 45 minutes calming him down so we could get a certain shot I wanted for the birth announcement.
+ She has an assistant on set to help her so that you can relax or take care of the other kiddos!
+ She does ALL family photos first so that if you do have toddlers, you can get them over with and let them go play while she finishes the shoot.
+ The Photo REVEAL! She had me come to her studio for the reveal and had all the pictures printed out and matted/ displayed on the wall so I could see them, touch them, and choose my favorites. I got to go home with the printed 5x7 images and she later uploaded the online gallery to share with my family and friends.
+ She has packages for every budget.

A few other facts:
+ She has the option for you to bring in one of her hair/ makeup ladies to prep you for pictures. Likely since you are sleep deprived, you may not have the time and energy to spend on yourself.
+ She is located close to Little Elm so although it was a bit of a drive for us to get there, it was worth it!
+ She has GREAT printed options such as leather books, photo memory boxes, and some various rustic and modern frame options. All really high quality.
+ She has built a really impressive portfolio of MATERNITY sessions and has lots of beautiful gowns to choose from if you want to look into her using her for that! You can also use her gowns for your postpartum shoots as well since they are very loose and forgiving.

Below are a few of my favorite images. I am saving the Birth Announcement images until we get them printed and mailed out because its my FAVORITE one! It was really hard to choose.

Thank you Cydnee for these priceless images. So appreciate everything you have done for our little family.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Tuesday, September 5th at 7:54am little ANDREW MOOSE MISEGADES came into the world while Hillsong's "Oceans" was playing.

He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and was 19.75 inches long. (Our shortest but heaviest baby!)

We hired a photographer to capture the moment Logan told me as well as Logan's proud waiting room moment... Both of those experiences were exactly WHY we wanted to do surprise gender this time and it exceeded all expectations! Before I share all of those the pictures, I did want to explain the details behind his name.

ANDREW -

This is a story I have only shared with a handful of people. Because we weren't sure on the gender, I was a bit insecure on sharing this yet. In 2015 I was sitting in a sermon at our church in Southlake. Chloé was only 5 months old so there was no future baby on our radar. During the sermon, our Pastor was actually going through all of the disciples and how they died a martyrs death. When he got to Andrew he choked up as he explained that "Andrew was whipped severely by seven soldiers in Greece and then crucified. His followers reported that when he was lead towards the cross, Andrew said these words 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour.' He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he died." I don't know how to explain it but at the very moment I had the thought WOW what a man of faith, I feel like the Lord downloaded a promise into my heart. In my heart and spirit I feel like He told me, You are going to have a son and his name will be Andrew. From that moment on, I have held onto that promise. I wasn't sure if Andrew would be this baby, a future biological baby, a future adopted baby, or a future boy that we mentored. What has been cool is the timing of all of this. He told me this is August 2015 and my anxiety/ insomnia started in September of 2015 and then last summer I had all my health scares surrounding my voice and swallowing. I remember the darker days when I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through or wondering if I was about to receive a terminal diagnoses... The Lord would gently remind me that He was not through with me yet because I still have a son to be born named Andrew. So in those valleys, I had a flicker of hope.... The promise of THIS little boy. Andrew has never been on Logan's or my radar as a name ... ever ... but we obediently named him Andrew and it couldn't be more fitting because of the meaning and the Promise behind it. He is our redemption baby.

MOOSE -

Moose is actually Logan's Mom's maiden name (Sherilyn Moose). Pictured below is Grandpa Moose who Logan had a really special relationship with. Growing up he was always jealous of his cousins who got the last name MOOSE because he thought it was so cool. We are hoping our boy thinks the same thing! I mean he's bound to be cool with a name like THAT! Another funny fact is that Logan out of all his siblings favors the Moose side of the family versus the Misegades. So THERE is the mystery of "Moose" explained for everyone.

People have been asking what to call this little man of ours. I want it to be organic. I will refer to him as Andrew but we already have a pretty big fan club calling him Moose. I am sure the "Moose" popularity will only increase over the coming years, especially when sports get introduced, ha!

"Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." LUKE 1:45

Carrying High (Girl) or Low (Boy) - BOY (both of my girls were wedged way up in my rib cage)

Statistics (If you have had 2 of the same gender, you are 80% likely to have a 3rd of the same gender) - GIRL

So (almost) all of these point to having a B-O-Y!!!! Logan and I both think it is a boy but we are wrong every time haha! We thought both Stella AND Chloé were boys before we found out... SOOOOO I wouldn't trust us haha!

Regardless we will be thrilled!

I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO PLAY ALONG WITH OUR BABY HUNCH POOL --->

If you'd like to play, simply click the link provided below to submit your hunches!

Once you visit the page, click 'Enter New Hunches' to submit your hunches...

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Well we have had some major changes the past few weeks! In early July our landlord told us he wanted to put our house on the market and that we essentially had 60 days to be out. (He was nice it was just terrible timing.) At the time, I was due for my C-Section in 62 DAYS so it was extremely stressful thinking about finding a place we liked and moving so quickly.

The whole time I knew there was a reason behind it but it didn't help the fact that I was going to have to go through the hassle of moving in the 108 degree heat while 8 months pregnant.... (Our plan was for our next move to be into a house we BOUGHT, not another rental.)

However, God aligned the timing of everything. We were actually test driving a car at Sewell when we got the call from our landlord which is why we opted NOT to get a new car. If our landlord had called us the following day or week, there is a high chance we would have already bought that car!

As we started looking at rentals in Richardson, we realized that prices had gone up substantially in the 2.5 years we had been renting. To get a house in similar condition with similar square footage was going to cost us more... Not to mention, Stella starts kindergarten next August so school was a factor while we were looking. (Thus the car payment $$ being repurposed)

We looked at a few promising homes and even got caught up in a Craigslist scam that resulted in me working with a detective ... long story. At the end of the day, God provided a GREAT home that was only 1.2 miles away from where we were living and is bigger AND nicer. If we were going to have to move, at least we were upgrading and not downgrading. It was a bit more expensive but since we opted to not buy a car right now, we will be okay. Turns out, buying skinnier car seats is less expensive than buying a new car ha!

So last week while Logan was at a work conference in Charlotte and my Mom and Chris were in Colorado, I packed up our entire house with the help of LOTS of friends and my Dad and Kelley. There were a lot of tears and pity parties... Thank goodness the girls had camp.

Logan flew home Saturday night and we bit the bullet and hired movers for Sunday morning and voila! We are officially in our new home which gives me 6 weeks to NEST until this baby arrives! WHAT.A.WHIRLWIND.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has watched the girls, brought meals, helped me pack, taken over loads of boxes, and CLEANED OUR NASTY OLD PLACE!!! I could NOT have made it through this move without you all and I feel very blessed to have such a strong and servant-hearted tribe. I hope I can return the favor someday.

Cheers to purging! AMAZING community! FRESH Starts! And a NEW BABY coming soon!!! Oh... and that MOVE BEING OVER WITH!!!